Q. My Letting Agent tells me he has Client
Money Protection. What does that mean?
A. It means that should the agent
misappropriate your rent, deposit or other funds the insurer of the
scheme will consider a claim to compensate you. This operates in
the same way as the ABTA Bond for your holiday.
Q. Are there any
limits to this cover?
A. NFOPP through their scheme will compensate a
landlord or tenant up to a limit of £25k. However, landlords are
limited to a maximum of 3 months rent. The total payable in respect
of a member company would be £500,000. In any one year the scheme
has a limit of £3million.
Q. How do I make
a claim?
A. All you are
required to do in the first instance is contact the Regulation
Department by e-mailing regulation@nfopp.co.uk
Q. What will
happen next?
A. You will be asked for evidence of your claim
to be submitted, in writing with details of the claim along with
supporting evidence. Evidence of a tenant's deposit for example
could be a tenancy agreement and a deposit protection certificate,
if appropriate. Evidence from a landlord claiming rent had been
paid but not passed on would be a bank statement from a tenant
showing payment to the agent along with your own bank statements
showing previous payment made and stopping to match the tenant's
statements. This is not an exclusive list of supporting
documents.
Q. Will I need
to be able to prove fraud?
A. No. You only require proof that you have not
received monies to which you were legally entitled.
Q. Can I check
that my agent's claim of belonging to the Client Money Protection
Scheme is genuine?
A. Go to www.arla.co.uk or www.naea.co.uk and
carry out a search under the find a member section or e-mail
regulation@nfopp.co.uk
Q. How long will
my claim take?
A. This will depend on the information required
by the insurer and the loss adjuster and perhaps even require
liaison with an administrator, receiver or liquidator appointed to
wind up the agents business. NFOPP will endeavour to get this
completed as quickly as possible but it is not always within their
control.
Q. My Agent
claims he has spent my rent upgrading my property. Is this
possible?
A. This is possible depending on your Terms and
Conditions of Business with your agent, but you should be provided
with copies of the appropriate receipts by the agent.
Q. My agent
tells me the landlord is claiming my deposit for damages. Is this
covered?
A. In the first
instance you should contact the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme
with which your deposit is registered to check what they think is
the current status of your deposit.